Canadian Solar Shifts U.S. Efforts to BESS After Cloudy 2025

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Written by Will Ploch, Assistant Editor-in-Chief for IIR News Intelligence (Sugar Land, Texas)

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Summary

Executives at Canadian Solar acknowledged the company's struggles in 2025, but they pointed to strong potential for energy-storage solutions in North America.

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Looking to the Bright Side

Canadian Solar Incorporated faced an increasingly rough market for its product throughout 2025, but executives remain optimistic about the company's long-term potential in North America. After shipments of solar modules saw a sustained decline, the company is turning to its energy-storage business. Industrial Info is tracking more than $8 billion worth of active and proposed projects across the U.S. and Canada from Canadian Solar, more than $2.4 billion of which are deemed by Industrial Info to have a high probability (81% or greater) of beginning construction as currently scheduled.

On Thursday, the Kitchener, Ontario-based company reported a net loss of $104 million for 2025 on $5.6 billion in revenue, compared with net profits of $36 million and revenues of $6 billion in 2024. Xinbo Zhu, the chief financial officer of Canadian Solar, attributed the declines to weaker global storage volumes and solar module deliveries to the North American market, as well as delayed project sales and project asset impairments globally.

"In response to the prolonged solar downturn, we pivoted away from the industry's traditional focus on shipment volumes and instead took the lead by prioritizing margins and diversifying our profit drivers, notably energy storage," said Shawn Qu, the chief executive officer of Canadian Solar, in a quarterly earnings-related press release. "Our commitment to the U.S. market remains steadfast as we spearhead the reshoring of manufacturing to North America."

Qu pointed to recent efforts to build on his company's U.S. presence: Canadian Solar has ramped up its production of solar modules at its factory in Mesquite, Texas, with plans to eventually double its nameplate capacity "to support a more resilient domestic supply chain," and it expects to finish construction toward the end of the year on its solar cell-manufacturing plant in Jeffersonville, Indiana.

Canadian Solar also is advancing a second phase at Jeffersonville, which, "once operational, will bring our U.S. cell capacity to 6.3 gigawatts [at] peak, establishing the largest crystalline silicon technology footprint in the country," Qu said. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Power Plant and Project databases can learn more about these developments--including capacities, investment values and necessary equipment--from profiles of the Mesquite and Jeffersonville plants, and from a detailed report on the Jeffersonville project.

Despite a less-than-warm stance toward renewable energy from the Trump administration, Canadian Solar managed to deliver a record 8.1 gigawatts (GW) of solar modules to the U.S. market in 2025, or one-third of its 24.3 GW delivered globally. The company also delivered 3.9 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of energy storage to the U.S. market over the same period, which was half of the record 7.8 GWh delivered globally.

By the Numbers

• More than $8 billion: Total investment value of Canadian Solar projects in the U.S. and Canada, according to Industrial Info
• 4.5 to 5.5 GWh: The company's projected energy-storage shipments to the U.S. in 2026
• 8.1 GW: Canadian Solar's record total capacity for solar modules delivered to the U.S. in 2025

Emphasis on Energy Storage

e-STORAGE, which is Canadian Solar's battery energy-storage solutions business, reported $3.6 billion in contracted backlog, including contracted long-term service agreements, in mid-March. The company expects 4.5 to 5.5 GWh of energy-storage shipments to the U.S. in 2026, a substantial increase over last year.

Canadian Solar is putting the finishing touches on Phase I of a battery cell-storage plant in Shelbyville, Kentucky, with Phase II set to begin construction later this year. Each phase is designed for a total production capacity of 3 GWh. Canadian Solar is renovating a factory for the project that was vacated in 2024 by metal-hydrogen battery company EnerVenue. Subscribers can learn more from a plant profile and detailed reports on Phase I and Phase II.

The company also expects to ship 6.5 to 7 GW of solar modules to the U.S. this year, which would be down from 2025's record 8.1 GW. Executives also acknowledged the first quarter's revenues likely would be softer than those of the same period last year, at between $900 million to $1.1 billion.

Subscribers to Industrial Info's GMI Project Database can click here for a full list of detailed reports for active and proposed projects across the U.S. and Canada from Canadian Solar.

Subscribers can click here for a full list of detailed reports for projects mentioned in this article and click here for a full list of related plant profiles.

Key Takeaways

• Canadian Solar reported substantially weaker year-over-year results for 2025.
• The company is emphasizing its energy-storage business in North America for the coming year.
• U.S. shipments of energy-storage units are expected to increase this year, while U.S. shipments of solar modules are expected to dip.

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About IIR News Intelligence
IIR News Intelligence is a trusted source of news for the industrial process and energy markets, powered by Industrial Info Resources' Global Market Intelligence (GMI).

About Industrial Info Resources
Industrial Info Resources (IIR News Intelligence) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking more than 250,000 current and future projects worth $30.2 trillion (USD).